A Love Without End, Amen
by Ryann Winner
Summary: About our favorite braided pilot. A songfic to George Strait's "A Love Without End, Amen."


Love Without End, Amen  
By RyAnn Winner  
  
DISCLAIMER: Don't own Gundam Wing. And the song is property of George Strait.  
  
NOTES: Well, don't have any real notes this time. Just enjoy!  
  
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all our unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9  
  
A young boy around six or seven tentatively reaches up his chubby little fist and knocks on the wooden door in front of him. He listens for a moment and fiddles with his braid, then hears an authoritative "Come in." With hands that could barely grip the knob from sweat, he somehow turned the knob and entered the office.  
"Ah, Duo. I just heard you would be coming by. Care to explain yourself?" The man on the other side of the desk looked at the young boy with a stern expression on his face.  
The boy that called himself Duo, swallowed, and started the story he had rehearsed in his mind.  
"You see, there was this boy, and he was being bullied by a bigger boy. You've always told me to look out for the younger ones, so that's what I was doing."  
"Duo, I didn't mean you were to hit people and start fights." The priest came around the desk and stood in front of Duo. "I guess you know we have to punish you."  
Duo felt his knees knock together. He knew the punishment would be something he wouldn't like. He'd been punished enough times to know that.  
  
I got sent home from school one day with a shiner on my eye  
Fightin' was against the rules and it didn't matter why  
When dad got home I told that story just like I rehearsed  
And then stood there on those trembling knees and waited for the worst  
  
"I guess this means you don't like me too much anymore." Duo started sniffling, and a tear fell from one of his violet eyes. He winced. The black eye making it's presence known. He had finally found people who loved him, and it seems he had done something to change that fact.  
The priest knelt down in front of Duo. He brought Duo closer to himself. Putting his arms around Duo, the older man hugged the precarious child to him.  
"Duo, just because I have to punish you doesn't' mean I don't love you. The same is true for the all the sisters here. We punish you because we want you to learn how to be a better person. When we punish you, we let you know that what you are doing is not a good thing.  
Do you understand?"  
Duo carefully wiped his tears away and nodded to the priest that was still holding him in his arms. Duo heard Father Maxwell tell him something.  
  
And he said: "Let me tell you a secret about a father's love,  
A secret that my daddy said was just between us."  
He said, "Daddies don't just love their children every now and then  
It's a love without end, amen. It's a love without end, amen.  
  
A small boy around six or seven was running around with his arms out and was making airplane noises.   
"Look at me dad, I'm an airplane. Vrroommm...."  
As he rounded a corner, one of his outstretched arms came into contact with a plastic shelving unit. The shelves and all that they held toppled to the floor.  
The man that was sitting at the worktable looked up when he heard a crash. Looking around, he saw that a small shelving unit he used for parts baskets was lying on its side, with the baskets scattered around it. Luckily, there were no parts in the baskets.  
"Son, you need to be more careful." The man told his son.  
"Sorry dad." The boy grinned up at his father and his father grinned back at him.  
A while later, the man was again interrupted by the sound of a crash, and this time it was followed by a short scream. Whipping his head around to see what the commotion was he saw his son had knocked over a stool and a plant. The plant had fallen on the boy's leg.  
Pushing his stool back, Duo Maxwell walked over to help his son up. When the boy was upright, Duo again, this time more sternly, told him to be careful, and again his son answered with an "I will."  
No sooner had Duo got to sitting down did another crash resound throughout the workshop. Not even bothering to look, he put his head in his hands and groaned. He was really getting frustrated. Hilde was usually the one to watch him while Duo worked, but she was out to lunch with some friends.  
  
When I became a father in the spring of '81  
There was no doubt that stubborn boy was just like my father's son  
And when I thought my patience had been tested to the end,  
I took my daddy's secret and I passed it on to him.  
  
Duo heard a soft sniffle coming from beside him. He looked down and found his son was trying hard not to cry. There were unshed tears shimmering in eyes that were exact copies of his father's.  
"What's wrong son?"  
"Do you still love me?"  
"Why would you ask that?" Duo got off his stool and down to his son's level.  
"Because I made a mess and you told me to be careful and I wasn't." The boy started crying then.  
"Ah, Marcus." Duo picked his son up and held him at eye level. "Of course I still love you. You're my son, and nothing will change that." Duo wiped his son's tears away.   
"When I get upset with you, it's just that I'm worried about you. I don't want anything bad to happen to you. I do it because I love you. Do you understand?"  
Marcus nodded his head. Duo hugged his son tightly. Marcus put his head on his dad's shoulder and Duo kissed the little boy's head.  
"I love you too, Daddy."  
Duo grinned. And he heard himself tell his son the same thing Father Maxwell had told him all those years ago.  
  
And he said: "Let me tell you a secret about a father's love,  
A secret that my daddy said was just between us."  
He said, "Daddies don't just love their children every now and then  
It's a love without end, amen. It's a love without end, amen.  
  
Duo pulled back the covers and got into bed, reaching over he turned off the light. He leaned over and gave his wife a kiss, and was soon in dreamland.  
When he woke up, Duo was confused. Instead of the grays and blues of his bedroom, there was white and gold. Large gates made of pearl were to his left. He turned and looked and realized where he was.  
"I'm in Heaven. But, this can't be right. I can't go in. There's too much in my past to allow me to be here."  
Suddenly, all he had done flashed before his eyes. There was when he tried to blow up Deathscythe when he first found it and even when he left in the same Gundam to go to the earth. He saw all the people he had killed during the wars, while he called himself "The God of Death." Heck, the name alone was enough to keep him out of Heaven. In the back of his mind, he remembered the commandment; "You shall have no other gods before me." Here he was proclaiming himself a god.  
He saw himself stealing when he lived on the streets. Sure, it was to survive, but it was still stealing. The memories of so many other times flashed before him.  
"There is no way I'm supposed to be here. My journey is supposed to take me to hell." Tears started making their way down his cheeks.  
  
Last night I dreamed I died and stood outside those pearly gates.  
When suddenly I realized there must be some mistake.  
If they knew half the things I've done, they'll never let me in.  
And then somewhere from the other side I heard these words again.  
  
As Duo stood there, staring at the gates, wondering how he could have gotten here, something flashed in the corner of his vision. He looked to the gates and saw someone he had not seen in too long.  
"Father Maxwell?" Duo walked over to the gates. As he did, they slowly opened for him. When he reached the threshold, he suddenly stopped. "I don't belong here."  
"Duo, yes you do." The man spoke, and Duo realized it was indeed Father Maxwell.  
"You don't understand, Father, I have done some terrible, unforgivable things in my life."  
"Nothing is unforgivable."  
"But, I have killed and I have..."  
"Yes, I know. Nothing you have done is unforgivable."  
"But how? I don't understand?" Duo was once again on the verge of tears.  
Once again, Father Maxwell brought the boy into his arms. This time though, he didn't have to stoop. "Do you remember the time you came to my office for fighting." Duo nodded. "Do you remember what I told you?"  
Duo thought about it. Soon, he remembered. He had just told his son the same thing just the other day.  
"Yes Father, I do."  
"Always remember that Duo. There is nothing that He won't forgive you for. All you have to do is ask. He will always love you, no matter what."  
Duo closed his eyes to ask for forgiveness and heard Father Maxwell repeat what he told Duo all those years ago.  
  
And he said: "Let me tell you a secret about a father's love,  
A secret that my daddy said was just between us."  
He said, "Daddies don't just love their children every now and then  
It's a love without end, amen. It's a love without end, amen.  
  
Duo's eyes blinked open and he saw he was back in his room lying beside Hilde. "It was all a dream." He remembered his dream. He turned over and put an arm around his wife. He smiled and closed his eyes again.  
"Thank you Father."   
  
  
NOTES: Well, that's all I wrote. Hope you enjoyed.  
God Bless 'Til Next Time - R. Winner  



End file.
